Courtesy of multimediaimpre
In a recent interview with two Univision anchors President Barack Obama identified his “biggest failure” as a president. He says, “My biggest failure is that we haven’t gotten comprehensive immigration reform done.” Four years ago Obama promised Jorge Ramos, an anchor from Univision, that he would bring up an immigration reform bill his first year in office. So far Obama has failed to accomplish this. This broken promise caused Ramos to question Obama’s ability to follow through on his other promises. Ramos voices the concerns of many Latino voters. Obama’s deportation rate during his presidency has been higher than that of Bush’s eight years. Obama’s administration has deported 1.4 million immigrants since he took office, which compares to Bush’s 2 million deported over eight years. However Obama’s administration has focused on the removal of criminal immigrants who are in the country illegally.
The statistics for deportation rates have caused many Latino immigrants to think twice about voting for Obama. Obama dominated the Latino vote in 2008 receiving twice as many votes as John McCain. Polls taken recently suggest that Obama controls 66 percent of the projected Latino vote to Romney’s 29 percent. One major difference from this year’s election is the lack of enthusiasm seen in Latino voters. There is a high possibility that this is because of Obama’s lack of commitment to his words. In 2008, Obama promised a lot and thus garnered a lot of excitement among immigrant voters. Because he did not follow through on his promises, the enthusiasm and draw that Obama once had is diminishing. If Obama does not receive as much support from Latino voters the election may swing in Romney’s favor this November. The question that the Obama administration needs to ask themselves is, “How important is it that we did not follow through on our promises?” Will this failure cost Obama another four years in office? Does he deserve a second chance? Comment with your opinions on whether he deserves a second chance, and what you think Latino voters will support him.
Immigration Talk 
I think this is very interesting, considering the fact that Obama has long supported Dream Act children and students who immigrated to the US illegally. The disjuncture between his deportation rates, his promises and his actual reform is unacceptable. Hopefully this issue will be addressed during the presidential debates.
I certainly hope he conquers immigration reform. It is such a pressing issue and the currents laws surrounding immigration are so diverse and un-uniform. He has shown support for immigrant children but needs to work with Congress to reform immigration as a whole. Part of the reason he was so popular abroad in 2008 was his policy ideas in relation to immigration. If he wants to win in November he needs to start pushing for progressive reform.
I remember the all the enthusiasm immigrants and immigrant supporters had during the 2008 election. Obama’s promise of an immigration reformed gave an enormous amount of Latino voters hope. It’s very disappointing to see that he did not keep most of his promises. However, I do find it reassuring that he is such a supporter of the DREAM Act.
I remember the all the enthusiasm immigrants and immigrant supporters had during the 2008 election. Obama’s promise of an immigration reformed gave an enormous amount of Latino voters hope. It’s very disappointing to see that he did not keep most of his promises. However, I do find it reassuring that he is such a supporter of the DREAM Act.
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